Jazz & Blues Florida March 2024 Issue - 15 Year Anniversary!

TAS CRU

With six albums in the last eight years, Tas Cru is slated to release his Tas Cru Band LIVE in 2024. While the official release is not until later this year, the new album will be available for purchase on this tour. The album showcases his 2024 tour band performing his fans’ top ten most-requested songs. To no surprise, these fan-favorite songs are all rough and tumble. Gone are the frills of a studio album. The band just gives each song a best go and will be featuring them on their Florida run this month.

A well-seasoned performer and entertainer, Cru really knows how to read an audience, and adjusts his sets on the fly accordingly. While this skill is developed over many years of performing, having a repertoire of well over one hundred original songs to draw on certainly gives him a powerful advantage. “He is a real

writer,” says Bruce Iglauer, owner/producer of Alligator Records. High praise comes as well from Downbeat magazine, saying; “With fresh melodies and his trademark well-crafted lyrics, Cru has the ability to cast a magical hook.” According to Cru, himself, “I insist that words serve more than to treat the listener like a hitch-hiker desperate to reach the guitar solo!”

Known primarily as a blues artist, Cru’s songs show that he is truly a roots music eclectic who refuses to be bound to any one genre. Based out of Central New York, he performs in multiple formats ranging from a six-piece backing band to solo acoustic. He sings and plays a wide variety of guitars – electric, acoustic, resonator or cigar box – and is known to sprinkle in a bit of harmonica from time to time.

Cru made his mark in the blues world as the founder and host of his Tas Cru Annual Rum Boogie Jam (2008 – 2023) at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Today, he tours extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and Canada. He has recorded with numerous blues contemporaries including Mike Zito, Anne Harris, Anthony Terry (saxophone), and keyboardists Bruce Katz, Victor Wainwright, and Anthony Geraci. 2023’s Riffin’ The Blues continues to enjoy wide international airplay.

Cru’s first Blues Foundation Blues Music Award nomination came in 2018 for Simmered & Stewed That album and the two that followed (Memphis Song and Drive On) were all recipients of New York’s Syracuse Area Music Awards for Best Blues Recordings. His 2021 album Broke Down Busted Up was nominated by Blues Blast magazine for Best Acoustic Blues Album, and by the Independent Blues Awards for Modern Roots Album, Modern Roots Artist and their Content Creator Award.

MARCH 3

PARADISE INN

PENSACOLA

BEACH

MARCH 4

SEVILLE QUARTER PENSACOLA

MARCH 5

BLUE TAVERN TALLAHASSEE

MARCH 6

CRAZY UNCLE MIKES BOCA RATON

MARCH 7

THE ALLEY SANFORD

MARCH 8

LITTLE BAR GOODLAND

In his early bands, Cru was introduced to the great Sun Records sound, and the country blues that later served as a counterpoint to the rock-blues he idolized (as did so many aspiring guitar players of his time). His first real foray into the blues came after leaving the U.S. Navy when he was asked to join a band formed by former shipmate Delray Streeter. That partnership, though short-lived proved to be very influential, and after stints with several working bands, Cru has dedicated himself to writing, recording and performing his own music for the past two decades with performances that showcase his original music almost exclusively.

MARCH 9

BUCKINGHAM

BLUES BAR

FT MYERS

MARCH 10

EARL’S HIDEAWAY SEBASTIAN

MARCH 13

ENGLEWOODS ON DEARBORN

ENGLEWOOD

MARCH 14

COTTONMOUTH

SOUL FOOD BRADENTON

MARCH 15

BLUES BASH AT THE RANCH

BROOKSVILLE

MARCH 16

BLUES & BREWS BISTRO ORMOND BEACH

In addition to his better-known albums is 2009’s Even Bugs Sing the Blues, an album of original blues music for kids. In 2016 he recorded a blues album for dog lovers called Doggone Blues that he then turned into a threebook series featuring the dog characters from these songs working together to form a blues band.

This Blues Foundation Keeping the Blues Alive award recipient (2014) brings his Blues Education programs and workshops to festivals, schools, and hospitals everywhere he travels. A passionate educator, Cru says, “To me, there is nothing more important that I do as a blues performer than blues education.” Get yourself some schooling this month as he swings through Florida. More at tascru.com

Carl Amundson

MARCH 26 INTERMEZZO SPOTLIGHT JAZZ JAZZBLUESFLORIDA ADVERTISER SINCE 2012 JAZZBLUESFLORIDA ADVERTISER SINCE 2024

MARCH 20

GOODWOOD

TALLAHASSEE

MARCH 30

BACKYARD BLUES

FESTIVAL

BLUE TAVERN

TALLAHASSEE

Funky Taters

Based in Tallahassee, FL and founded by rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist Michael Lewis in 2013, The Common ‘Taters and the Turn-Ups were a core group of musicians (the ‘Taters) doing “roots” music, originals and tasty down-home covers, with special visiting artists (the Turn-Ups). Now the band has morphed into a group of musicians gathered together to funkify the atmosphere with bouncin’ grooves and therefore has a new name, The Funky ‘Taters. The group’s original style of playing drew from a variety of diverse sounds, and featured both electric and acoustic presentations of American roots music. Folk, swamp pop, zydeco, Cajun, rock, dance, funk, reggae, country, blues, new-grass and gospel were mixed into a rootsy musical mélange with a groove that often featured three- and four-part harmonic vocals. The idea for the ‘Taters unique acoustic-but-modern sound came from a song written by Lewis entitled “Western Dance.” The song inspired his vision of the band’s percussion sounding like a mini-marching band – a drum line. The ‘Taters use a standard trap drum set at times, but also hand-played percussion instruments such as the frottoir (washboard), djembe, bongos, congas, cajon, claves, or shakere. Their debut CD Wildlife Refugee contains 15 originals, while its follow-up is the live CD ‘Taters Live at the 4th Annual Sausage Fest at the Crum Box Gastgarden in Tallahassee Lewis is currently writing songs for a third CD. The ‘Taters expand to ten or more members in Havana, Cuba to perform at their International Jazz Plaza festival held each January, calling themselves The Common ‘Taters Southern Funk Band. More at commontatersmusic.com

MARCH 13

BROWARD CENTER FT LAUDERDALE

Cyrille Aimée

Improvisation has allowed Cyrille Aimée to share her engaging voice and sparkling creativity with the world, while leading her on an unexpected journey. She has been hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “one of the most promising jazz singers of her generation.” During her early years in New York City, Aimée honed her skills through weekly gigs at a Soho restaurant, at Birdland Jazz Club and as a regular at Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. At the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2007, Aimée won the vocal competition, recording her debut with the prize money. A finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition and the TV5MONDE series Talent Acoustic, Aimée won the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition. From her first independently released recordings, The Surreal Band (2008) and the following year’s Smile with guitarist Diego Figueiredo, Aimee has impressed European and American critics and audiences alike. In 2010, she reteamed with Figueiredo for Just the Two of Us, and released Live at Smalls featuring trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Live at Birdland followed in 2013. A year later, Aimée released It’s a Good Day, followed by 2016’s Let’s Get Lost, which spent 11 weeks on the Jazz Albums chart, peaking at No. 11 and setting her trajectory. After 2018’s Cyrille Aimée Live, Aimée returned in 2019 with Move On: A Sondheim Advenwhich earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals for her rendition of Sondheim’s “Marry Me a Little.”

Three albums in as many years precede her new release à Fleur de Peau out on March 8. More at cyrille music.com

MARCH 2

MOSS CENTER

MIAMI

MARCH 3

LYRIC THEATRE

STUART

Ruthie Foster

Healing Time finds veteran blues artist Ruthie Foster pushing her boundaries as a singer and songwriter more than ever. “This album says a lot about the period we were making it in, and how I wanted to find my way out of it,” she explains. Healing Time’s title – as well as its burst-of-sunshine title track – is a reference not only to the trials many have faced over the last several years, but also the necessity of what Foster does as an artist. “Fans tell me that the music we make is very spiritually healing,” she says. “There’s always time for healing, if you give it time.” Her three previous albums – 2009’s The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, 2012’s Let It Burn and 2014’s Promise of a Brand New Day – were all nominated for Best Blues Album Grammys. Foster has also been recognized multiple times by the Austin Music Awards and the Blues Music Awards. Born in the small rural town of Gause, TX, Foster was raised in a family of gospel singers. She discovered her love for performing in the Navy, while singing pop and funk tunes with Pride, a band that performed at Navy recruitment drives nationwide. Her 1997 debut Full Circle and its 199 follow-up Crossover secured Foster’s name as a singer/songwriter in the Austin scene. She has since collaborated on stage with Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi and The Allman Brothers, and recorded with Warren Haynes and The Blind Boys of Alabama, among others. More at ruthie foster.com

MARCH 21

SARASOTA JAZZ

FESTIVAL SARASOTA

Wycliffe Gordon

Gordon was a Spotlight in our Premiere Issue!

Musical ambassador and interpreter of America’s music, Wycliffe Gordon’s impressive career takes him around the world performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute, his exceptional technique and signature sound have solidified his place in musical history known as one of the top trombonists of his generation. In 2018, the Jazz Journalists Association named him Trombonist of the Year for the 11th time, and the Downbeat Critics Poll named him Best Trombone for the fifth time. He was also presented with the coveted Louie Award presented by the Louis Armstrong Museum, and the International Trombone Association Award in 2017. He is also a past recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Vanguard Award, among many others. In addition to an extremely successful solo career, Gordon tours regularly leading his own quintet, including a 2018 U.S. State Department tour to Sri Lanka. Gordon’s extensive catalog of original compositions spans the various timbres of jazz and chamber music and he is commissioned frequently. Musicians and ensembles perform his music throughout the world, and his arrangement of the theme song to NPR’s All Things Considered heard daily across the globe. He established Blues Back Records in 2006, releasing the jazz collection BloozBluzeBlues and the gospel set The Word. Gordon is also one of Americaʼs most persuasive and committed music educators, and serves as Director of Jazz Studies at Georgia’s Augusta University. He has published several books, and he works with young musicians of all ages, including past workshops in Florida. More at wycliffegordon.com

MARCH 17

NORTHWOOD

BLUES FESTIVAL

WEST PALM BEACH

SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL SCHEDULE

Memphis Lightning

Darren Thiboutot Jr. – the “Lightning” in Memphis Lightning – was born in Maine to his mother Deb, and father Darren “Big Red” Thiboutot, a session and touring blues drummer in the 1990s. By age 12, Jr. was riding shotgun and playing old-school, rock-solid guitar on stage with Buddy Guy and the late great Eddie Kirkland. In 2016, he represented the state of Maine in The International Blues Challenge Youth Showcase. And in 2019 son and father began touring nationally with their band Memphis Lightning. After appearances on the 2016 CD Instrumental Paradise and Andy Penk’s 2017 release Waiting on an Answer, Memphis Lightning released their debut studio album Trouble later in 2017. It was followed by 2019’s Live and Raw and 2020’s Borrowed Time, on which Jr. wrote every song. Described by Jimmie Vaughan as “one of the greatest guitarists around today,” Jr. counts Kirkland, Magic Sam, Roy Buchanan, and Chuck Berry among his many influences. The backbone of the band is Grammy-nominated and international touring and recording artist Thiboutot Sr. He has recorded and or played with artists such as Pinetop Perkins, Tab Benoit, Kenny Neal and Lucky Peterson, among many others. Live additions include Rick Curran on keyboards and Mr. Rock on drums. Look for Memphis Lightning to bring their unique brand of high-octane oldschool rock & roll and down-anddirty blues to a juke joint near you. More at memphislightning.com

MARCH 16

SPRING JAZZ AND ART FESTIVAL LAKE CONCORD PARK CASSELBERRY

Eric Darius

With a trademark jump and crowd-captivating energy throughout his live show, Eric Darius is breaking the mold of modern jazz. This chart-topping American saxophonist, songwriter, producer and performer has been traveling the world promoting his latest album Unleashed. “It’s called ‘Unleashed’ because I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone on this project and truly unleash my full musical potential in a live studio setting,” Darius said. “This album is an honest reflection of myself and my growth both musically and personally over the past several years, and it really takes the listeners on a musical journey from start to finish.” Raised in Tampa, FL, Darius comes from a musical family. His Haitian father (a bass player) and Jamaican mother (a singer and piano player) instilled Caribbean influences and a passion for music on young Darius and his siblings. With eight highly acclaimed albums to his name, Darius has racked up five No. 1 Hit Singles and 17 Top 10 Radio Hits on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart. He was Smooth Jazz News Magazine’s Debut Artist of the Year in 2004 and SESAC’s Top 10 Jazz Artist of the Year in 2015. In 2017 Darius received the First Annual Citril Starz Awards’ Best Jazz, Saxophonist, Composer, Producer & Musician of the Year Award. He has shared the stage with such acclaimed artists as Prince, Mary J. Blige, David Foster, Carlos San tana, Jamie Foxx, Babyface, George Benson, Lalah Ha thaway, Marcus Miller, Wyclef Jean, and many others. More at darius.com

SPOTLIGHT

BLUES

MARCH 3, 17 & 31

GIBSON INN

APALACHICOLA

MARCH 8-10

WILL McCLEAN FEST BROOKSVILLE

MARCH 13

MILLIES DOWNTOWN

PANAMA CITY

MARCH 2

INDIAN PASS RAW

BAR

PORT ST JOE

MARCH 30

TALLAHASSEE

BLUES FEST

SEE WEBSITE FOR FULL SCHEDULE

Corey Hall

Hailing from the Gulf Coast region of Florida, singer-songwriter Corey Hall strikes a harmonious balance between celebrating the roots of blues, drawing inspiration from legends like Mississippi John Hurt and R.L. Burnside, and crafting his own unique brand of music. Through creative exploration, he’s found avenues to cultivate his own voice within the blues genre, representing his profound love for this musical tradition. “Orange Peel Hop,” Hall’s debut single, is a testament to his musical journey. Winner of the 2023 Northwest Florida Regional Blues Challenge and Quarter Finalist in the 2024 International Blues Challenge (with Matt Law), Hall is a self-taught guitarist, with a focus on genre-appropriate instruments including National resonators, Gibson acoustics, and banjos. In addition to Hurt and Burnside, Hall’s inspirations and influences include Doc Watson, Woody Guthrie and Mississippi Fred McDowell. He also shows great appreciation toward friends and fellow area musicians Walter Belmont and Frank Lindamood, claiming them as mentors. Blending past and future in his performances, Hall plans to release an album every year, along with various

MARCH 22

TIMUCUA ORLANDO

MARCH 23

FRIDAY MUSICALE

JACKSONVILLE

MARCH 24

SOUTH FLORIDA

STATE COLLEGE

AVON

Lynne Arriale

Recognized as “one of the most exciting pianists in contemporary jazz,” (The Guardian, UK) pianist Lynne Arriale has performed on the most prestigious international concert stages over the past 30 years. In recent years, Lynne’s compositions and albums have reflected current social issues. Chimes of Freedom (2020) highlights the worldwide immigration crisis and the experiences of refugees who risk everything to find a better life for themselves and their families. The Lights Are Always On (2022) examines the life-changing events wrought by COVID-19. Being Human, her 17th album as a leader out March 1, is a suite of ten original life-affirming compositions addressing a trouble, divided world by exploring shared human qualities of passion, courage, love, persistence, heart, soul, curiosity, faith, and joy. Featuring bassist Alon Near and drum mer Lukasz Zyta, the album explores these life-affirming facets of human kind. Many of the songs are dedicated to people who’ve inspired Arriale, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. Arriale won the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, and her critically-acclaimed albums have topped the JazzWeek Radio Charts and received “Best of” honors in major publications. She has performed at numerous international jazz festivals, and given five performances at the esteemed Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Arriale also serves as Professor of Jazz Studies and Director of Small Ensembles at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Joining her for these performances will be Near and drummer Adam Nussbaum. More at lynnearriale.com

FROM

MARCH 1

BLUES & BREWS

ORMOND BEACH

MARCH 2

AIRPORT

RESTAURANT DELAND

MARCH 3

EARL’S HIDEAWAY

SEBASTIAN

MARCH 4

AMELIA THEATER

FERNANDINA BCH

The Nighthawks

The Nighthawks were a Spotlight in our Premiere Issue!

Formed in 1972, Washington, D.C.-based blues and roots band the Nighthawks underwent several personnel changes before stabilizing as the lineup of Mark Wenner (vocals and harmonica), Jimmy Thackery (lead guitar), Jan Zukowski (bass guitar), and Pete Ragusa (drums) on their 1979 debut Full House. Thackery departed in 1986, and his spot was filled by numerous players with Pete Kanaras lasting longest in the guitarist spot. In 1987 and 1988 the group backed tours with Elvin Bishop, John Lee Hooker, John Hammond, and Pinetop Perkins. In 2003, the band was featured on season two, episode one of The Wire. More personnel changes in 2004 preceded their win for Traditional Blues/R&B Duo/Group Award at the 2009 Washington Area Music Awards. In 2011, their Last Train to Bluesville album won for Acoustic Album of the Year at the 32nd Blues Music Awards. As of 2018, The Nighthawks are Wenner (vocals and harmonica), Dan Hovey (lead guitar), Paul Pisciotta (bass guitar), and Mark Stutso (drums). Their latest release is the 2023 six-song EP titled Slant Six, right on the tail of their pre vious full-length studio release, 2022’s Established 1972, which marked the band’s fiftieth(!) anniversary. See why decades of gigs and countless rabid fans have earned them the name “The Best Bar Band In The World.” More at thenighthawks.info